YA drabbles
by young avengers assemble
Summary: My collection of oneshots from the YA. (Featuring mainly Tommy)
1. Chapter 1

Wanda looked at the sheepish boys standing in front of her, trying to keep a stern look on her face even as her heart melted with their childish faces. "So let me get this straight." She folded her arms over her chest and Billy winced. "You accidently brought a interdimensional parasite to earth in the form of Teddy's mother?"

"Well...yes." Billy looked like he wanted to correct her, but fell into a submissive silence.

"And that monster possessed your parents, the avengers, and any other parent?" Billy's shoe squeaked as he fidgeted.

"Yes."

"And you," she turned to Tommy, "decided to get back into hero work, went renegade with no team and only a non-mutant as backup, got kidnapped by a phantom that worked with Billy's parasite and wore your friend's suit?" Tommy cringed.

"Let's look on the bright side of this." Tommy rushed. "I didn't blow anything up, and Billy did stop the parasite."

Wanda pinched the bridge of her nose. "Tommy, you lost your job-"

"It was really more of a pastime."

"-and Billy, you almost caused the end of humanity."

"But I fixed it!" Billy protested. Wanda couldn't argue with logic like that. She glanced desperatly at Pietro, who sat on a chair in the living room, pretending he wasn't listening in.

"Pietro, you tell them!" She waved her hand at the two boys. Though only one had inherited Pietro's abilities, both had his stubborn sarcasm. Pietro glanced up from the phone in his hand long enough to roll his eyes and shrug.

"Your offspring, your problem."


	2. cheating

"You're cheating." Billy snapped, folding his arms over his chest.

"I am not!" Tommy swung his arm to match the person on the screen, racking up points as he did so. The music thundering from the video game made hearing him difficult.

"You're moving too fast! I can't keep up with you!" Billy tried desperately to match his brother's energetic pace, but he was already short of breath.

"You can't keep up with the game." Tommy didn't break stride from the high speed dance playing in front of them as he corrected his brother. Billy knew it was true - the game itself was moving at a high speed pace - but it still felt unfair that the speedster wasn't winded at all. "I mean, you're practically standing still."

"So that's how it's going to be?" Billy paused the dance and glared at his brother. His chest rose and fell beneath his "nerd tee-shirt" (nicknamed by Tommy himself), that showed some of the original avengers.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over my awesome dancing." Billy pinched the bridge of his nose. Normally he wasn't this competitive, but Dance Dance Revolution was one of the only games he was good at, and Tommy was crushing him.

"Teddy, tell him he's cheating," Billy pleaded. His boyfriend raised his hands in a placid surrender.

"Leave me out of this."

"Judas."

"He knows where his loyalties lie." Tommy said. "Come on, put the game back on. I want to finish kicking your butt."

"Get out of my house." Billy groaned. He should have known better than to challenge Tommy to a dancing game. Before he could finish, Tommy had ran away, posing outside of the living room window.

"I'm not in your house." He laughed before speeding back in through the swinging door. "Now I am. Now I'm not. Now I am. Now I'm-" Billy flicked his wrist and the door slammed shut, locking behind Tommy. Brothers will be brothers, he thought grimly

"Then stay out!" He warned. Tommy's maniacal laugh sounding from outside only made Billy more flustered.

"I'll be back, same time tomorrow." Tommy warned, and Billy knew it was true. The afternoon outings were integral to building a brotherly relationship with Tommy. Billy ran a hand through his hair and looked at Teddy, whose shoulders shook with laughter.

"I am good at Dance dance revolution, right?" He asked. Teddy wrapped his arms around Billy, stifling his laughs.

"Absolutely." Teddy reassured him. "In fact-"

"Teddy and Billy sittin' in a tree-" Tommy crashed in through an opened window, sending the screen flying above Teddy's head, chanting the rhyme like a preschooler when two kids hugged at recess.

"I said, get OUT of my HOUSE." Billy flung out his arms, sending Tommy flying back out the window, shutting it firmly behind him. The surprised shout satisfied him. Billy didn't believe in using his powers excessively, but Tommy had it coming.

"Honey, is everything okay?" Rebecca Kaplan stuck her head into the room, an eyebrow raised. Her eyes locked on the open window and the broken screen door. Billy made a mental note to fix it later.

"Perfectly fine." He grumbled.

"He just defenestrated me!" Tommy shouted from outside, shaking dirt and grass out of his hair.

"He'll live." Billy shrugged. Rebecca merely shook her head. At least once a week, Tommy's visits resulted in a loud crash or explosion.

"As long as no one got hurt."

"Only Billy's ego. And his Dance Dance Revolution high score." Tommy commented, brushing himself off. "See you tomorrow, Mrs. Kaplan."

"Please, call me mom."


	3. speedster time

The tiny frame of Billy's youngest brother, Sammy, blew through the front door, tumbling into Billy before he even saw him. Coffee splattered out of his cup, hitting the floor at Sammy's feet. Billy recognized the distinct sound of a kiddish sob coming from Sammy's mouth. Teddy ran in from the kitchen, alerted by the same sobbing.  
"Sammy, honey, what happened?" Teddy grabbed Sammy's shoulders, wiping away the river of tears that streamed from his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be at the bus?" Sammy gulped and stammered his way into a sentence.  
"The...the bus came...it came early...and I-" His voice caught and another wave of tears poured down.  
"Hey, hey, it's okay." Billy ruffled Sammy's hair. "What happened?"  
"I missed the bus!" Sammy wailed, his missing front tooth giving him a slight lisp. "I'm gonna be way late for my first day of fifth grade!" Billy tried to find words to reassure his brother, but he came short of a solution. He gave Teddy a distressed loo, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. Billy's parents had both gone to work early, and teleporting Sammy would be too dangerous. Forget being late, Sammy might miss the first day altogether.  
"I have an idea." Teddy said. "But you better hope your brother forgave you for throwing him out a window." He pulled out his phone and dialed a few numbers. It only rung once before the receiver picked it up.  
"Why are you calling me at seven fifteen in the morning?" A cranky voice jumped over the speaker.  
"You can call a solid I owe you, but we need a taxi."  
"If you need a taxi, call a taxi."  
"Why do you think I'm calling you?" The receiver snorted.  
"I'll be over in five." The line clicked off and the doorbell rang. Teddy swung it open, revealing Tommy, blurry eyed and red-cheeked. His hair was mussed with the early morning wind.  
"What's the news?" He asked.  
"Sammy is going to be late for school. Can you take him?" Billy asked. Tommy raised an eyebrow.  
"That's your emergency? If you're going to drag me out of bed every time you're late for something-"  
"It's the first day of school." Sammy said, sniffling and wiping his nose. "I can't be late for the first day." His voice was syrupy, a sticky sugar sweet. Billy saw something in Tommy's eyes break, and he knelt down to ruffled the younger boy's blond hair.  
"Don't worry, buddy. I'll get you to school in time." Tommy assured him. Seeing them at the same level, Billy noticed how similar they looked. Tommy's hair was the color of paper, but Sammy's couldn't be called colorful either. "But first, Billy, give me your coffee."  
"Tommy, we don't really have time-"  
"Relax and give me your coffee. You're on speedster time now." Billy reluctantly handed over the half empty cup of coffee, which Tommy downed in a second. "Great." He cracked his knuckles and gave Teddy a sly smile that made him question letting Tommy take Sammy.  
"Can we go now?" Sammy asked, tugging Tommy's sleeve. He obediently dipped down to one knee.  
"Hop on." Sammy climbed onto Tommy's back and wrapped his tiny arms around his neck. "Now the most important thing is that you do not let go. Got it?"  
"Got it." Sammy grinned. Billy watched as they winked away, seemingly vanishing into midair. The only indication that they had ever been there was the quick breeze that blew past him. Milliseconds later Tommy reappeared alone, his eyes watering from the wind.  
"Unfortunately for him, Sammy is at school." He reported. "Got anymore coffee?" Teddy pointed to the machine in the kitchen. Tommy snatched a cup and filled it with the liquid caffeine.  
"Are you going already?" Billy asked. Tommy shrugged.  
"Is there a reason I should stay?"  
"You're still holding my coffee cup and if you take it with you it's stealing." Billy suggested.  
"Fine." Tommy took a seat around the kitchen table and set the empty coffee mug on the top. Billy sat down across from him, Teddy at his side.  
"Why did you change your mind?" Billy glanced at Tommy with a critical stare.  
"What do you mean?" Tommy glared at his cup with a burning intensity.  
"You weren't going to take Sammy at first, were you? What changed your mind?" Tommy's fingers dug into his palm. His eyes darted around the room, refusing to focus.  
"I guess he reminded me of myself when I was younger." Tommy whispered, shaking his head.  
"It's kinda hard to imagine you as an innocent kid." Billy laughed at his joke.  
"Yeah." Tommy's eyes clouded over, as if he was remembering different times. "It is."


	4. glasses and goggles

Tommy held the battered frame of his orange sunglasses into the air, light streaming through the lenses to illuminate the numerous cracks and smears from battle. He hadn't expected them to last very long. At super speed, even a little speck of dust could shatter a lens if it hit right. Still, he was going to miss the orange goggles that he had since joining the team.

He glanced at Kate, who sat on the other end of the couch, her nose buried in a magazine. Her purple aviators weren't in the best shape either, scratches criss crossing the smooth surface. The shine had worn off of them, covered by a thick layer of dust.

"Hey, Kate, do you have any plans for today?" Tommy asked. She glanced up from the magazine and shrugged.

"This was my plan for today, unless you have something better in mind." Kate raised an eyebrow. Tommy showed her the wreckage of his glasses.

"Girls like to shop, right? Want to come with me?" Kate closed the magazine and considered his offer. On one hand, she could continue to be an anti-social hermit, but on the other, she could actually socialize with her teammates beyond killing things with them.

"Well, if you go alone, you'll probably pick a pair of horrid sparkly kid glasses, so I have a responsibility to stop you." Kate stood up, examining her own pair of glasses. "But don't think I'll get a matching set."

"Orange isn't really your color."

"Watch it, Shepherd. I could pull anything off."

"Is that a challenge?"

"That depends." Kate shrugged. The look in Tommy's eyes made want to take it back, but she wasn't about to back down from a fight. She knew she would regret it though, especially once they got to the mall.

Tommy gathered a handful of glasses to try out, dragging Kate to the nearest mirror. Kate had to give it to him, he had a sense of style. None of the glasses were horrid, at least. Tommy slid on a pair of glasses with a blue tint. "What do you think?"

They looked good on him. With his wind blown hair, tight shirt and cargo pants, he looked like someone out of the magazine Kate had been reading. Of course, she wasn't going to tell him that. "Here, try these." She pushed a pair of glasses toward him.

"You first." He protested handing her purple ray bans. The surface shone, clearly reflecting every image it saw. Between the mirror and the reflective glasses, Kate could see endless clones of herself, the imagine flashing between the two surfaces.

"Well?" She turned around to face Tommy, who held his phone out.

"Wait, stay like that." He commanded, tapping a command into his screen. Kate frowned at him, but stood still until he lowered the phone. "Here." He lifted the screen up to show her the picture he had taken. The reflective glasses showed him standing in the corner of the lens, grinning manically. "This has to be your new profile picture."

Kate grabbed the phone from him. "Where did you learn that?"

Tommy shrugged. "I always liked photography. It doesn't take a long time."

"That settles it. I want these." Kate pulled the glasses off of her face. "Which ones are you getting?" Tommy held up the pair she had picked out. They weren't quite as flattering as the first pair, but Kate was so used to seeing Tommy with the orange googles that any new form of glasses looked extraordinary. "Really? Those?"

"You are the fashion expert." Tommy said. "I'll wear what you give me."

"Then the Ray Bans it is." Kate held up the two pairs, fishing around for her wallet.

"Wait, wait, WAIT." Tommy ran in front of her, grabbing her shoulders to stop her before she could reach the register. "I want to see something." He dragged her back to the mirror, turning her around. "Close your eyes."

"What are you-" when Kate didn't obey, Tommy reached out and gently pushed her eyelids down, as quick as a butterfly's wing. She felt him push her hair behind her ears, cascading it down her back. "Tommy, if you mess up my makeup, I swear on all that is sacred there will be a supersonic arrow with your name on it."

"I'm not going to mess up your makeup." Tommy argued, slightly annoyed. He slid something over her face, Kate felt it on her ears. "Okay, open up."

The world around Kate turned neon orange, hairs cutting through her field of vision, distorting everything in a spiderweb fashion. The mirror revealed Tommy's old goggles on her face. They felt abnormally large, more blocky than her's. "Hmmmm." Tommy stepped closer to her, crouching down so they were eye to eye. Kate could feel his breath on her cheek "I guess it is true."

"What?" Kate looked at Tommy full on. It wasn't often that she saw him without the glasses on, and she took the opportunity to see him now. He had beautiful eyes that seemed to shift colors with the lighting.

"Kate Bishop really CAN pull anything off." Tommy grinned at her, and somehow it made him seem softer, less like a kid that had lived in juvie and more like the hero Kate knew he was. Kate pulled the goggles off, matching his smile.

"Trust me. There's only one person in the multi-verse that can pull this off, and he's standing right in front of me."


	5. bulletproof

"Here." Kat handed Tommy a small journal. Its pages bulged and waved with words. Even before the leather cover touched his hands, Tommy knew what it was. One night, while the guards weren't paying attention, or were too tired to care, Kat levitated the notebook out of the back pocket of one of the men. The first few pages were filled with horrifying things - details about upcoming procedures, experiments, tests, and battles. Kat tore those out, but kept the untouched ones. Ever since then, when the nightmares or pain, or both, kept her awake, she used a pencil she had nabbed to write everything down. Not a journal exactly, but a handful of letters, composed to different people. Kat always said that when they got out, she would send them, or maybe publish them for the whole world to see, like Anne Frank.

"Kat, why-" She shushed him before he could finish, pushing the journal into his hands.

"Listen to me, Tommy." She commanded, harshly turning his face until his eyes met her's. "If you make it, and I don't, send this to the world so they know what happened here." Tommy wanted to push the notebook back to her and tell her to publish it herself, but he couldn't.

"We'll both make it." He said instead.

"Tommy-"

"It's either both of us, or neither of us." Tommy shook his head. "We've been through hell on earth together. We're going through hell below together, too." He kissed Kat's forehead and she squeezed his hand before pulling away. Kat cracked her knuckles and gave Tommy a forced smile. Tommy thought it was incredible how easily they could both put on smiles, and how bullet proof they looked.

"Ready?" Kat asked. Tommy nodded. Today, they would escape or go down trying. The yard - what the "test subjects" called the only outdoor area - was heavily fortified with ten guards, each with high powered guns, ten foot tall barbed wire fencing, and a tower. Tommy wasn't exactly sure what was in the tower, but both he and Kat had agreed not to find out. Power dampeners minimized their abilities, but they could still use them in small increments. Tommy could still run at slightly accelerated rates, and Kat could still control objects. They could do this, Tommy tried to convince himself as they approached the yard.

Kat positioned herself behind Tommy, back to back. He felt the tufts of her pixie cut - given to her by the juvenile authority- on the back of his neck. "Three, two, one." She whispered. Tommy reached out, anger boiling in his gut. The massive guns the security guards held burst into balls of flame. Behind him, Kat waved her hand and the weapons launched themselves through the air.

"Moment of truth," Tommy muttered, reaching for Kat's hand. The moment he felt the pressure of her grip, he took off running. This part of the plan was truly the hit or miss moment. Combining their powers like this was something they had only talked about in theory. Tommy neared the fence, approaching it rapidly. With only a few feet to spare, Kat launched them into the air. The ground beneath Tommy vanished and the duo spiraled through the sky. Kat dropped them down on the other side of the fence, her power to move objects ebbing away with the power dampeners. Tommy was feeling the effects too. Even as they ran further away, Tommy was slowing down.

The power dampeners sucked actual energy out of any mutants in their range, making them too physically and mentally exhausted to do any tricks. Tommy had slept as much as the guards would allow him, but now he wasn't sure it would be enough. A blaring Klaxon sounded behind him, white lights flashing through the dawn sky. He risked a glance back, the searchlights momentarily blinding him. He saw the gates to the yard open, dogs and armed soldiers spilling out. The giant tower swiveled in his direction, the barrel of a cannon extending from it. Wide eyed, he stumbled and slowed down. Kat caught up to him quickly. She didn't look good. Besides the energy being sucked out of her, they had both been deprived of food and water. Blood loss from surgeries and tests didn't help, either.

Kat grabbed his arm, hauling him forward. "Don't look back!" She screamed over the alarms. Tommy heard her in slow motion, as if she were speaking through water. "We can't look back!" He returned his gaze in front of him, trying to shake off the exhaustion. Each step was a century, the ground molasses. Kat's hand slipped off his arm as she fell back. Dogs howled and Tommy could almost feel their breath on his heels. He pushed past the exhaustion. Just a little further and they would be in the woods.

"We're almost there!" He yelled back. Once they were hidden by the woods, they were home free. Kat didn't answer, running silently near him. He glanced at her and barely had time to eek out a warning. The tower's cannon thundered out a blast of super charged particles. "Watch out!" Tommy lunged for Kat, but even the speedster was too slow. The laser beam hit the ground at her feet, blasting them across the forest. Tommy flew backward, the shock to the blast rippling through his body. He hit the ground a foot away, singed, but unharmed by the blast.

Kat lay on the dirt, her clothes smoking. Her hair was blackened and stiff. Half of her was charred and broken, barely resembling a human. Tommy stared, willing her to move, but she never so much as twitched. He tried to step toward her, as if he could do anything to help the dead girl, but he sunk to his knees, exhausted and scared. The guards and dogs were too close now. Tommy knew he would never make it. Without Kat, he didn't want to make it.

His hand danced across Kat's face, his fingers brushing away ashes and embers. Her pale eyes stared up at the fading stars. Frantically, Tommy dug for her journal, grabbing it out of his shirt. The first dog reached him, jumping at him. He whirled away, the dog's paw hitting his shoulder. Gripping the journal tightly, Tommy wound his arm back and hurtled it forward, sending the journal flying through acres into the forest. Juvie had taken everything from them. It took their childhood, their innocence, their blood, and ultimately, their lives. But this was one piece of Kat that no scientist or doctor could ever have. Tommy caught a glimpse of it settle under a far away pine tree before a dog hit him from behind, dragging him down to the ground. A metal clad guard clamped his hands behind him and hauled him to his feet. "Son, you're the luckiest kid in the world. We have orders to take you alive, 'else you'd look like your girlfriend over there." Guards formed a circle around Tommy and Kat, snickering and laughing.

"'Most promising kids in the program'" One of them quoted the facility director with a snort. "Look where it got them." Tommy couldn't hear them anymore. He didn't care what they said. They could hit him, beat him, drown him in ice water, and it wouldn't hurt as much as knowing Kat was gone.

* * *

Tommy woke up from the nightmare the same way he did every night, the bed soaked with sweat and tears, the glass lighting above him shattered on the floor. He drug himself into a sitting position, wiping his face and trying to shake the same memory that haunted him day in and out.

He considered replacing the lightbulbs that he had unknowingly exploded in panic, but he decided against it. If he replaced them every time it happened, the Kaplans would run out of lightbulbs in a day. Tommy wanted nothing more than to finally be able to sleep without seeing his dead friends, without the past haunting him. He need closure. He knew it was finally time to do what he had been avoiding doing since Billy had broken him out.

He scratched out a quick note to Billy, hopefully one he wouldn't have to read.

Hey, little bro. I had to go do something. I should be back before you wake up, but if not, this is my vague explanation of what I'm doing. And if I'm not back by then, I'm good, I just need some time.

With the early morning sun rising behind him, Tommy took off toward a high powered facility in New Jersey. It wasn't any different than Tommy remembered. The woods were just as close, and yet just as distant as they were the morning he dreamed of two years ago. He slowed down as he reached the edge, careful to stay out of any searchlights. Tommy fell to his knees near a giant pine tree, digging through the needles and dirt. It had to be here. He could never forget where he had thrown Kat's journal.

His fingers struck the leather cover, pulling it out of the dirt that hid it for so long. He flipped the cover open gently, suddenly second guessing himself. Despite Kat's frequent talks of publishing it, Tommy had never actually read what she wrote in its dirty pages. Taking a deep breath, he flipped to the first page of writing.

Day one: August 2nd. Dear mom,

it's hard to tell time here. We don't get clocks or calendars, but every once in a while a doctor will let something slip. I stole this journal from one of the men outside my cell. I will document my experiences here until one way or another, I leave.

Today, they took my friend- my only friend - Tommy for tests. They made him run at Mach ten for hours, until the machine they built to contain him malfunctioned. Only a few more minutes and he would have had a heart attack on the treadmill. Will update more tomorrow

Tommy remembered that day. He could barely breath when the machine fell apart beneath his feet. He had lay on the floor among the shattered metal, unable to see straight or move. Guards had knocked him out and transported him back to his cell, where he used morse code to tell Kat and other prisoners what had happened. Morse code was one of the only ways they could communicate outside of the Yard. Most of the guards had no idea that Morse code existed, or that the mutants knew it.

Tommy flipped through the pages, landing on another entry.

Day twenty five. Dear dad,

I have lost track of the date again. It is happening more and more often.

Today they took me out of my cell, strapped me to a chair and tapped sensors to my body, They poked at me with knives and watched areas in my brain and spinal cord light up. They seemed fascinated by the fact that I didn't respond differently than a human. After they conducted that test, they brought a handful of us into a new room. It was me, Tommy, a mind reader named Joe, and this little boy named Samuel.

They brought guards in and told us that this could be our final test, then shot at us all. Joe was shot in the head and died instantly. Tommy outran the bullets, but just barely. They use power dampeners to ensure our powers can't protect us. They make us simply exhausted. I was able to make a weak force field. It shattered as soon as the final bullet hit it, but it did it's job.

But Samuel couldn't use his powers to help him. He was shot in the leg. It wasn't enough to kill him instantly and they made Tommy and I watch him bleed out in front of us. We tried mom, God, we tried so hard to save him. But he died roughly an hour after being shot. They didn't let Tommy or I leave until a doctor confirmed he was dead. Both of us were stained with his blood.

Why would they do it, mom? Why would they shoot at us? It was a seemingly pointless test, but the thing was, they knew Tommy and I could survive. They knew Joe and Samuel wouldn't. The doctors and scientists were impressed with Tommy and I thus far, and so they decided they needed a new kind of test. A mental one. They will push us until we break, torture us until we lose the will to live.

I won't let them get to me, mom. I will see you again.

Tommy remembered that day. That day, he felt like he had woken up from a deep sleep, finally realizing that these people really were evil. A little late yes, but all the same, it had been an eye opener.

Page after page described the day's tortures, the experiments and tests. Tommy's fingers lingered over a significant date, October 15th, the day the battles started.

Dear Dad.

Until now I've avoided writing you a letter. You signed a contract that bound me to this place, and nothing you could ever say will earn you forgiveness. I wanted you to know what has happened because of it.

Today, I killed someone. Another girl named Carrie. She liked math and wore red glasses. The doctors made us fight. They wanted to see how we reacted to a real threat. When we refused to hit each other, they put Carrie under mind control and she attacked me. I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't even have to kill her to make the doctors happy. But I was scared, Dad. I pushed her back too hard, my power was too strong and she flew into the wall. Her neck snapped.

I killed someone today Dad, and it was your fault.

Each page reopened a wound that Tommy had pretended to ignore. Tears formed with each sentence his late friend wrote. Eyes streaming, Tommy turned to the final page with writing. The date of their botched escape was scrawled across the top. It was the only letter addressed to him Underneath was one simple sentence.

Dear Tommy,

Today is the day I die.


	6. didn't deserve you

Steam tickled Tommy's nose as he drank from the mug Rebecca handed him. His adopted mother looked at him with a studious glance that made his squirm. She was observing him, watching, as if she were waiting for him to react. Tommy thought back to the last few days. He hadn't blown anything up, started any fires, or ran over the governor. He had done absolutely nothing to deserve that look. "Whatever it is you think I did, I didn't do it." He blurted out. Rebecca Kaplan gave a small laugh, shaking her head.

"You're not in trouble, Tommy. I just want to talk about something." Tommy's blood froze. Every internal alarm he had built into himself was screaming red alert. He wanted to get up and run away, run like the wind and never look back. He knew perfectly well what "something" was code for. He almost stood up, but he stopped himself before he went anywhere. The Kaplans had been too nice, too generous. They had opened up their home and given him more grace than he deserved. He sat back down, slow enough so that his coffee stayed in the cup.

"What do you want to know?" He fought to keep his voice even, so say those words instead of dodging the conversation.

"Your parents and you, I know you didn't have the best of relationships, but have you ever considered visiting them again?" Rebecca asked. Only a million times each night Tommy thought.

"It wouldn't be a good idea." Tommy shook his head, sipping his coffee with shaking hands.

"I know how you think they see you, but you've changed, and they've changed. It has been almost two years since you last saw them. Are you sure they would still view you the same way?"

"Well, I don't _know_." Tommy admitted, "But I doubt they've changed." Rebecca pursed her lips thoughtfully. She slowly reached out and put her hand over his, gently prying it off of the coffee mug and holding it at her side.

"Tommy, I love you like you were my birth child, and I would never, _ever,_ ask you to do something you weren't comfortable doing. But I've heard you whimper during the night, and Billy told me about the place they found you in. I think it's going to be vital, for healing, to go see them. Get closure." Rebecca rubbed her hand across his, trying to keep him calm. Tommy bit down on his lip, tasting blood as it fell onto his tongue

"You'll be there too, right?" Rebecca smiled warmly. A smile like that made Tommy twitch nervously. That was the face of love and support. Tommy had never seen it on Mary Shepherd's face.

"Of course, I'll be there. We don't have to have anyone else along, if you'd prefer that. We don't even have to tell Billy or Jeff."

"I'd like that." Tommy nodded.

"We can go now, if you wish." Tommy nodded again. Might as well get it over with now instead of worrying about it all day.

In a car, the drive from the Kaplan's house to the Shepherd residence was around two hours. Rebecca left a note for Billy and Teddy, claiming to be out on errands. They drove in silence most of the way, as if Rebecca could feel Tommy's nervous energy. She didn't comment on it, even when Tommy started to bounce his leg up and down so fast the entire car shook. When the GPS reported they were a mile from their destination, Tommy grew eerily still. Rebecca pulled the silver Mercedes to a stop next to the curb outside the Shepherd's house.

"Are you ready?" Rebecca asked. She wondered if they should have called ahead. But by now it was almost eleven, and surely the Shepherds would be up.

"No." Tommy answered. "But I'm doing it anyway." He exited the car and waited for Rebecca to join him on the walkway before he walked up to the front door. He paused, hesitating longer than he should have before knocking on the door. Rebecca put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him and squeezed it gently

"You can do it." Tommy hit his knuckles across the wood door twice. He was used to waiting for eternities, especially since he was a speedster, but it seemed to take an excessive amount of time for Frank Shepherd to answer.

"You?" He reeled back when his eyes landed on Tommy. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in-"

"Juvie? I know." Tommy jumped on the sentence before Frank could finish it. "The Young Avengers broke me out. Recruited me, I guess you could say. I...I changed." He winced, knowing how corny it sounded. Frank's face turned a fixed shade of red and purple under his bushy mustache.

"Changed?" He spat as Mary joined him by the door. "Someone like you doesn't change." Rebecca drew in a sharp breath.

"Please, Mr. Shepherd. I've had the pleasure of housing Tommy while he gets back on his feet and-"

"You like 'housing' him? Then take him. The ungrateful boy always messes up one way or another and throws everything you tried to give him away." Rebecca's hand tightened on Tommy's shoulder until he couldn't feel circulation there anymore.

"Tommy is a wonderful boy. I see now that any 'mess ups' he made were a product of his environment. He must be a truly remarkable boy to be able to overcome what happened here." She steered Tommy away, back toward the car. Tommy could feel the anger that rolled off of her like he felt wind when he ran. Rebecca shoved him into the passenger seat of her car, but Tommy could tell it wasn't him her wrath was angled toward. She flopped down into the driver's seat, clutching the wheel hard enough that Tommy was sure she was going to pull it out of the dashboard.

"Personally, I think it went well." Tommy broke the silence. It came out more sarcastic than he meant it to. It could have been a lot worse. Rebecca glared at the window, shooting daggers at the closed door of the Shepherd residence.

"They didn't deserve you." She whispered before she shifted the car into gear. The words rang in Tommy's ears as the car sped away.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you going to try and stop me too?" Tommy folded his arms, looking at Teddy. Teddy shrugged.

"If you could be stopped, Billy would have stopped you already. I came to say goodbye, and good luck."

"Really?" Tommy crouched down on the porch, tracing a hand across the faded pavement. "You hopped on the quitting train rather quick. You sure you don't want to yell at me?"

"I did it for Billy." Teddy sighed and sat down next to Tommy. "It's been hard enough for him to watch you go."

"That's...sentimental, I guess." Tommy shook his head, white hair flopping into his eyes. "But still, I know you don't want to quit either. _You_ know you don't want to quit."

"What I want is irrelevant."

"What you want is always relevant." Tommy stood up, brushing off his jeans. "It's your life. Live it."

"Tommy-"

"I should go." Tommy pursed his lips when he heard footsteps echo inside the house. "The longer I stay, the harder it'll be to leave." He slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Teddy inhaled sharply, trying not to cry. If Tommy had been the touchy-feely sort, Teddy would have given him a hug. Instead, he extended his fist, and Tommy's knuckles lightly tapped his. "I'll see you on the street," Tommy said, the mischievous glint returning to his eyes

.

"No, you won't." Teddy shook his head. I'm done being a hero, he repeated over and over in his head. Tommy just grinned.

"Oh, trust me, I will." Tommy called over his shoulder. Teddy folded his arms resiliently as the speedster reached the end of the driveway. The Kaplans had offered him a ride to wherever Tommy planned on going, but he had insistently declined. He could get there faster running, and he didn't mind it at all, he had said. Something brushed Teddy's leg and he looked down to see Billy's youngest brother, who had taken an instant liking to Tommy racing out of the open door.

"Tommy! Wait!" Sammy barreled down the driveway. Tommy stiffened just in time to soften the impact of the younger boy. Sammy hugged Tommy around the waist, and if Sammy were a little older, he would have cracked Tommy's ribs. "Do you have to leave?" He sniffled. It was one of those questions, Teddy thought sadly, where both people knew the answer, but neither wanted to say it because it wasn't a happy one.

"Yeah, I do. I wish I could stay, but this is for the best."

"You'll still visit, right?" Sammy looked up with large, watery eyes. Tommy hesitated before wrapping his arms around Sammy.

"Of course I'll still visit. Who else would teach you how to play real football?" Tommy ruffled Sammy's hair. He hoped Jeff or Rebecca would come for Sammy soon, or else the little boy would change his mind.

"Mom is making spaghetti Saturday. Will you be here then?" Sammy asked.

"I'm not sure. But I'll be back soon, I promise." Tommy pulled away from his more or less adopted brother. Sammy retreated sadly back to Teddy's side, his spiky hair tickling Teddy's side. The depressing look on Tommy's face right before he sped away told Teddy the speedster didn't plan on coming back any time soon.


	8. Chapter 8

One bullet was a lifetimes supply. One bullet was all it would take and Mother would be gone. Tommy would come back. Teddy would go through a mourning phase, but he would be okay eventually. Kate and David could return to their mundane lives. Noh-Varr, America and Loki could go back to their respective realities.

All it would take was one bullet. It was the selfless thing to do, the heroic sacrifice, the honorable death. So why was it so hard for Billy to pull the trigger? If only he were a better version of himself, someone like Cap or his mom, he could banish mother without a second glance. But he was only Billy Kaplan, the geek who had never fit in, the boy who chickened out of being a hero. He had tried to step away, leave the battlefield, and look where it had gotten him. Hopelessly tangled in a botched spell. He could practically hear the thoughts his team mates didn't say aloud. 'You had one job, Kaplan.' 'You should have known better.'

If Billy were Captain America or Wanda, he wouldn't be in this mess. But he was just Billy Kaplan, a kid with a lifetime supply of bullets. Because of him, everything had gone wrong. He had to set it right. All it would take was a single bullet; a lifetime's supply.


	9. Chapter 9

Tommy had pushed his entire team out of the path of bullets at some point or another. For the most part, they never noticed it, and Tommy didn't tell them. Why should he, if everyone came out okay?

This time was different. Billy's back was turned to the shooter, focusing on protecting a small girl running for cover. Tommy was a half mile from Billy when the shot rang out. It wasn't a long distance for a speedster, even when racing a bullet. His feet reacted before him, as per usual. The ground blurred as he raced toward Billy.

* * *

Billy saw the little girl running as fast as she could for a shop, desperate to get out of the line of fire. Even running as quick as her little feet could, Billy knew there was no way she would make it to the store in time. "I want her to be safe. I want her to be safe." He chanted. She vanished, her blond pigtails barely visible from the store's tainted windows.

Then he heard the gunshot. Billy whirled around as something jolted him off of his feet. The protective barrier he tried to on a moment's notice shot wide, the force field appearing on his right instead of behind him. Billy saw a flash of green. Yards away, Billy saw his brother kneeling on the ground, hunched over.

* * *

Not even a speedster could stop in time. Of all the dangers to be aware off, Tommy was not prepared for a wild force field to appear. His shoulder slammed into the barrier, rebounding him several feet backwards. Tommy was almost certain the burning pain he registered was a dislocated shoulder until he glanced down. Unlike Deadpool, Tommy's suit was not red. In fact, it was very, very green. Which meant the blood spilling out of his abdomen was very, very visible.

Tommy fell to his knees, the world spinning faster than he could run. The bullet, he thought, it rebounded. Breath, just breath. You can figure a way out of this, Tommy tried to tell himself, but the moment he inhaled, he immediately felt like he was drowning. A sickening gurgling sound echoed from his lungs and Tommy doubled over further, dark red liquid pouring from his mouth.

You really messed up this time, Shepherd. Tommy shook his head cynically. At least Billy was left to finish the fight.

* * *

Tommy fell onto his side before Billy had the chance to reach him. He fell down next to his brother, trying to access the damage. Billy could hear someone else, Teddy, probably, running up. "Tommy! Tommy can you hear me?" Billy tried to feel for a pulse. It was there, but fading rapidly. The sheer speed of it was the problem. How ironic. The faster his heartbeat, the more blood Tommy lost. Billy didn't know it was possible for someone to loose that much.

"I want him to heal. I want him to heal. I want him to-" Even before Billy could finish the spell, he knew it wouldn't work. Tommy was past the healing point. He remembered someone once telling him he couldn't save everyone, that everyone had to die, and eventually there was nothing he could do. Billy wasn't ready to accept that.

Billy had no idea what to call the force that his powers came from, but at that moment he cried out to it. "Take me, but let him live!" Billy screamed. He didn't feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. He didn't hear Teddy trying to talk to him. All he knew was that by mutant standards, Billy had had a great life, albeit a short one. A loving family, good friends, the best boyfriend in the galaxy.

Billy felt his life, breath, his very existence being yanked out of his body. Everyone had to die, but tonight it wouldn't be Tommy. At least his brother would be left to finish the fight.


End file.
